Treatment advice

Hi Suzy S, I'm sorry to hear about your mum. Hopefully the remaining cycles of chemotherapy will attack the remaining cancer. 

The CA125 biomarker can be a useful indicator of how well the treatment is going. The normal range is 0 to 35.

I was diagnosed with PPC in May last year. I had three cycles of chemotherapy before debulking surgery. Then I had a further three cycles of chemotherapy with the addition of a targeted drug called Bevacizumab (Avastin) for the last two cycles. After that I continued with just Avastin infusions every three weeks as a maintenance treatment. I'm still having Avastin treatment and I'm feeling really well. I am back at work but I am working from home.

Has your mum had the BRCA gene mutation tests done? There are other targeted drugs, such as Olaparib, which might be offered if the mutation test is positive.

I hope this helps. Let me know if I can maybe help with anything else.

Best wishes

MaldivesFan

Hi MaldivesFan, 

Thank you so much, that’s is such a positive reply, I’m am absolutely thrilled for you, after we found out the cancer was near the liver prognosis looked really bleak. It is really strange times, I got told this but I couldn’t visit mum and it was 4 Very long days till I got to speak to her.  They did say they are giving her Avastin and will test the tumours they removed. 

Thank you ever so much for replying I can’t thank you enough, this is so scary, and you don’t know who to ask, people don’t understand. 

You take care  and thank you once again Suzy x

Just ask if you want to know anything else, I'll try to help.

I keep an eye on my CA125 biomarker results. They seem to test for this every couple of months. Your mum might have to ask her Clinical Nurse Specialists or her oncologist if she wants to know these results. My CA125 results have been back in the normal range since I had the debulking surgery. That keeps me feeling positive :-)

I tested negative for germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations (this is based on a blood test). The result was also negative for somatic BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations when they analysed the original biopsy of tumour tissue. That is why I am on Avastin and not Olaparib.

It's only in recent years that there been several possible options for targeted therapy to add to the standard chemotherapy treatment. So the future is brighter now :-)

Aww god bless you, thank you so much. I have just messaged my mum, she is still in shock. We only lost my gran in November, she then got diagnosed in December. Covid in March it’s been really stressful. She caught covid too and made it through that. Then her surgery got delayed as she tested positive a second time. She was fine but they said come back for the op in 7 days. She did and they then said guidelines have changed come back in 14 days. The day of the op, I rang theatre’s and they said it didn’t go well. They found a mass near her liver and pancreas. It’s been a crazy up and down roller coaster. 

it’s so nice to chat to someone who has been through it, you are a kind and special lady.

suzy